Part 4 of 5
What are my passions? Even with the thought generated over the last few days it can still be a tricky question at the midpoint of our lives. The answers lay buried under years of intense focus growing families, building careers, working, caring for aging parents, and doing what it takes to make it all work. We have to dig….deep and (sometimes) deeper. Well this post is for us. We are all unique and different ideas resonate with each one of us. If you’ve been stymied so far….don’t despair… try these approaches for uncovering passion. Trust that all will be revealed.
Two Quick fire Questions.
You have 30 seconds to come up with 5 answers for each. Get ready.
Question 1 – What brings me joy?
Question 2 – What makes me happy?
Record whatever pops into you head…no edits.
What we’re good at can indicate areas of passion.
What are your strengths? Record them. Experts say that we often fail to recognize our talents. Ask friends and family to name 3 of your strengths right off the top if their heads. Record and compare lists.
Dream BIG
What are your dreams? List all the things you would love to do, be and have in your life. Think Big don’t censor your thoughts write everything down. Focus dreaming this way…..my absolute ideal would be ______. Or I would secretly wish for_________________. Even if the thought of achieving these things seems preposterous write them down. Don’t worry about the how only the what!
10 things
Make a list of the 10 most important things you can think of that would give you a life of happiness and fulfillment.
“You’ve got to follow your passion. You’ve got to figure out what it is you love–who you really are. And have the courage to do that. I believe that the only courage anybody ever needs is the courage to follow your own dreams.”
Oprah Winfrey
reACTION [to change in the response to stimulus]: narrow it down
When you have the complete list of all you love, everything that is important to you, what you secretly wish for and all that brings joy to your heart. Narrow it down to 5 Passions. Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood authors of The Passion Test suggest moving through the list comparing the first to the second and ask which is more important to me. Carry forward the most important one and compare it to the third thing on list. Move through list this way until you have the one passion that tested against all others. Repeat process 5 times. You will be left with the 5 things that make you get up in morning, put a song in your heart and give your life purpose.
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